Apr

10th

good life with gina zeidler

Part of cultivating a good life is investing MORE into your face-to-face relationships than your online community.

Now hear me out. I have crazy value in, appreciate, and am blessed by this amazing thing we call the internet. Goodness, what would I or my business do without all of you! Yet, sometimes I find myself giving more to online friends or communities than my own face-to-face relationships. This truth convicts my soul. Doing life ALL online can leave us lonely and craving more; this is where we can go all wrong.

We were put on this earth to LOVE others well. To hold another, to lift another up, to share in our triumphs and struggles. While this can be done online, I think it’s best done with in-person interactions that fill our soul how they were designed to be filled. With hugs, over chocolate and dance parties, and listening intently to another share her heart.

I find myself caught up in the new social media trend, app, or insta apocalypse. I worry if I will be able to connect and create for the masses. Then I catch myself. My husband, my son, my family, our small group, the checkout lady at Target, the moms at school. THESE ARE MY PEOPLE. I need to be just as or even more present and loving with each of these interactions as I am with every post I curate.

Let’s challenge ourselves this year to check our hearts and our time and see where we are most invested. Because, y’all, at the end of my days, I highly doubt I will care how many Instagram followers I had or how many conferences I spoke at. I want to see the lasting, loving legacy I cultivated by investing time and heart into my face-to-face relationships. Are you with me?

note from becky

Oh, Gina. What a fantastic message. I completely resonate with that, for I, too, value my online community … and I value my “real-life” in-person relationships even more. I’m thankful for the reminder. I met Gina several years ago when she tagged along with photographer (and one of her dearest friends), Natalie Norton. They came to our home, photographed our family, and Gina captured the most beautiful video footage of us. She is completely pleasant and I could’ve spent hours just chatting up a storm. While we haven’t seen each other since, there’s always… yep, you guessed it: Instagram. And honestly, since we can’t see everyone in person all the time, I am grateful for social media. Her sharing is positively beautiful.

Great post Gina. I could not agree more. I think society on a whole relies too much on email, social media, and the like. I try to value every one that I come into contact with, and always remember to smile at every one. Some times a simple smile cane change the course of someone’s day. Have a beautiful day where ever you may be.